Afternoon of July 15, 2024

 

Behind the colourful city

~Ah-young Dana Park

Geese line

the volleyball

sand pit.

They are

starting

their weekend

ahead of

schedule.

~Beth Gulley

the monsoon rain

resurrects a dry river—

giant snake

~Tejendra Sherchan

wherever

there is riversong

I am not alone

~Jennifer Gurney

assassination attempt

sniper and photographer

both shooting

~John J. Dunphy

the Wu Wei of showing a fly the door

~Patrick Sweeney

we were only told to stay off the third rail

~Patrick Sweeney

I and I by and by one world

~dan smith

he had the wrong head for this century

~Patrick Sweeney

And at last

And at last,

At the end of the play,

The small fries are killed.

~Partha Sarkar

circling between buildings

the hawk swoops

a white plastic bag

~Padma Rajeswari Tata

there were many golden bracelets & robes

purple-perfumed, ornate trinkets

before they turned to war trophies

~Fhen M.

A signal far from the soul

The stagnancy in the afternoon.

No positive human touch in the journey.

I listen only to the birds, the rustling

And a signal far from the soul —

A green flute played by the tree.

Move on my brightest thoughts towards the evening.

A night with the fairytale lulls me to sleep

I am prepared to run tomorrow.

~Partha Sarkar

My Pigeon Feet

are moved by pain and joy.

Damp soils cake the yard

as paled bones extend past vines –

growing, searching, feeling.

They feel the warmth of the doormat,

resting their soles under blankets of wood.

Nails kneading away at the intricate texture,

My pigeon feet prance around in butterfly steps.

As Grandmother likes to call them,

loving, searching, feeling.

~Sigrid Kim

he was the kind of guy who felt the pains of the world coming up through the soles of his Hush Puppies

~Patrick Sweeney

he showed off his new crown in the middle of the fish fry

~Patrick Sweeney

child's art

on her father's car

screwdriver markings

~Tuyet Van Do

the Pompeii fresco could be any poet

the pixelated boy could be me

reminiscing what was beautiful & pure.

~Fhen M.

Diversity in One

~Ah-young Dana Park

Afternoon of July 13, 2024

first senryu

a flea lands between

fragment & phrase

~Cezar Ciobica

I wanted my legs

to take me somewhere else.

But the cat sat on them.

That has to be good enough.

~Noah Berlatsky

Nepal Idol—

a tailorbird’s monsoon wail

subdues him

~Tejendra Sherchan

polluting our planet assigned gender balloons

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

a bob-weave

for the camera

Nessie

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

safety pins

and stardust

Ziggy, Iggy

Hoagy and Bix

~dan smith

Routine

At birth, when the doctor slapped me,

I yawned, I haven't caught up since

I work night shift. I'm so tired I take a nap

before I go to bed.

When I wake up, the bags under my eyes have bags, have bags...

~Keith Snow

foster care child

her third home

this year

~John J. Dunphy

Echoes of You

Your singing has become my alarm,

karaoke, blasting songs in the shower as I desperately cover my ears.

I would wave hi to your friends, me an old grandma,

trying to be cool.

Your 3 shades of lip gloss, never-matching pairs of socks,

and pink backpack covered in grass can always be spotted around our house,

Leaving a trail like Hansel and Gretel back to your room.

But now I wake up to silence, a spotless room

where nothing covers the carpet, and a dry, empty shower.

Maybe I miss those loud mornings.

~Karen Lee

bamboo thicket

behind the high school

scattered bones

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Blockhead

Pinocchio fell victim

to the wood beetles' lust;

dust spurting from a myriad adits,

he collapsed at his father's door,

but that is not dead, etc; automaton,

wayward robot carved from wood,

he rose again, riddled with scars,

but a real boy at last.

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

cautiously a lizard

crosses the road...

run over frog beside

~Tejendra Sherchan

Overseas

Is there no one who truly cares for me?

I can see the stars all the way from here

Shining just the way I like

I have faith in what I see

I feel your whisper across the sea

Another moment passing by

It’s okay, we’re the best of friends

~Olivia Park

Grass Routes to Victory

tennis match psychic

predicts Wimbledon winner

net prophet

~John H. Dromey

along train route

hidden messages

in spray-painted curves

~Patricia Carragon

AGING WOUNDS

familial

laughter—

elbow

pressure

applied

to aging wounds

~Andrew Buckner

flagpole without a flag

a national anthem without singers

~Fhen M.

a rose is a rose

a house is a house

logic is an interesting subject

~Fhen M.

helpless

an ugly feeling

comfort but no answers

a powerful hug

but brittle future

~Rae Greenwood

This Is Where

This is where an innocent man visited,

stuck with thoughts, considerations, and feelings

This is where many face edges and nails through their skins

Screaming in excruciating pain

This is where one’s item disappears from their car in a minute

This is where one can lose oneself after touching a dollar on the street

This is where red is the color that is seen the most everywhere

This is where many want homes

This is where street food is common

This is where cheering is scarce

~Sean Kim

My superpower

is getting

out of bed

~Nolcha Fox

My Night

Fog patches

Occasional drizzle

Occasional pain

Very poor at times

0330 now rising

Showers

Becoming very rough

or high later

~Ann Smith

a flea crushed at the end of dad's death poem

~Cezar Ciobica

 

Five Fleas swag:

https://www.zazzle.com/store/five_fleas

Afternoon of July 10, 2024

 

Nature’s Artistry – Earth

~Sean Kyung

narcissists

don't do

thoughtful

~Jennifer Gurney

window wash froth

stirring dark clouds

into the murk

~Mark Gilbert

the dance

of Red Capped Manakin—

Moonwalk

~Tejendra Sherchan

I saw Mother Ignacia in the Eight Sphere

among constellations of the Middle Ages

in the liquid-bearing Aquarius

saints & princes drank a cupful of ambrosia

~Fhen M.

sitting in the sun

the shadow of the church

falls on my left

~marc brimble

Chasing Angels

I have been

beyond

the forbidden hours.

Very few go there;

fewer return.

I have been there

more than once.

I do not regret it.

I WILL go back,

again.

~R. Gerry Fabian

each day just kinda swam off

like fish

shiny and funny

and weird looking

one after another

slipping thru my fingers

and escaping

~marc brimble

The Weed

A weed

As tall as me;

Cut it down, it grows back

As tall as before. Unless it

Doesn’t.

~Noah Berlatsky

sliding

into closing arguments

door squeak

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

school photos

back when we knew

so little

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

"today's my birthday"

the panhandler tells me

three days straight

~John J. Dunphy

still

making jam

for you

even after

you're gone

~Jennifer Gurney

Love Language

~Gavin Kim

Afternoon of July 5, 2024

 

Happy Hour

~Kelly Moyer 

Photography available here

I had a chat

with life today

—sorry darling

I’m not always

flowers

~Sharon Ferrante

in the sea

waves of maternal

lineage

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

From the Passing Breeze

from the passing breeze

an epiphany

There is vibrancy in the grass

and a halo, wavering iridescence

summer’s searing heat

The following futures

When sprinting, I look to the kind blue

The passing breeze

a moment of sanctuary

The fading childish spark, I smile wistfully

~Austin Chung

fewer clouds today

something in the air has changed

single blade of grass

~Charles A. Perrone

that's where her cat scratched a death poem in the carpet

~Patrick Sweeney

his thoughts drown out the heartbeat in my pillow

~Sharon Ferrante

A Disk Around the Sun

Whichever you choose, the route is equally rewarding

everyone was smiling or laughing

Are we on the cusp of a genuine breakthrough?

Is it a battle for recognition?

This dorm was once a madhouse

But that life was too short

Raided and now cornered

I’m still a believer but I don’t know why

Even when you want to die

~Vincent Bae

I finished eating my daily bread

~Patrick Sweeney

give us each day our daily dread

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

small slights on a speck of dust

~Patrick Sweeney

kites so high clouds give way

~James Penha

on the verge of saying hi

the graceful way she shooed a bee

~Patrick Sweeney

alive and then some

emerging from

the opened box

Schrödinger’s cat

with kittens

~John J. Dunphy

waking to a quiet house

the white noise

of grief

~Jennifer Gurney

wildfires about happiness

It is no accident that humans can see light

Grief is universal

Swaths of smoke darkened skies

Wildfires that burn near communities

can become dangerous

and even deadly

if they grow out of control

Innocence is so very fragile and fleeting

We tell ourselves a lot of stories about happiness

As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times a day

~Regina Kim

kitchen sink

our dirty dishes washed

in moonlight

~John J. Dunphy

occasionally I defer to what actually happened

~Patrick Sweeney

she's heard enough about my neurons stretching to the moon and back

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

Lost and Found

~Yoon Park

 

Caged In

~Yoon Park

Morning of July 4, 2024

 The Reign of AI

~Yukyung Katie Kim

special olympics;

the weight he lifts

and yet

hearing his name cheered

the moments he smiles

~Anthony Lusardi

her body

is a vast temple

bells

within her stomach

announce mealtimes

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Your dreams

I’m so gifted at finding

Finding your dreams come true

Any time I count sheep

That’s the only time I wake

I put my hand on the stove

Blunt pain was everything I felt

It was all a dream

~Jin-Woo Ahn

new rules

to the restraining order—

the clouds

always changing

into something new

~Anthony Lusardi

A Celestial Journey

running with a useless white suit

adding weight

lasers were passing right by

I’ve seen the hope

empire falls, and the new world forms

rest with my fellow friends

run and run until I am out of energy

what was the rumble

Thought the world was in peace

~Dongeon KIm

Going Question

 

I heard and I repeat:

if "it goes without saying,"

why are you saying it to me?

~Charles A. Perrone

Seeking Paradise

standing in line

the stress of going somewhere

to relax

taking flight

five hundred sardines

in one can

the terror of turbulence

ordering brandy

with breakfast

~Wanda Amos

red, white but no blue --

still blooming on July 4th

my poinsettias

~John J. Dunphy

heat-parched wood

fence rails buckle and bleach

~JL Huffman

a private school meant a Christian school

beseeched god with Rosary beads

and asked for the sun to dance

~Fhen M.

the sun performs a Kuratsa dance

around the Milky Galaxy

~Fhen M.

T i z n i t

Oasis town draped in date palms

The traveller wanders its souk

Back in time through alleyways

A glimpse of sun scarcely penetrates

Precious jewels, nomadic treasure

A citadel amongst red rocks of the Atlas

The muezzin calls, the iftar is ready

~Olinda Ninolakis

snow-fed stream

seeping into bones

an ancient chill

~Suraj Nanu

distant thunder . . .

I know now from where

the mushrooms bloom

~Suraj Nanu

frozen tundra

my footsteps divide

days and nights

~Suraj Nanu

incognito mode —

we ask the child bride

to hide her tears

~Debarati Sen

Goes to the infinity elder sister

Goes to the infinity

Elder sister

Promising that one day she will return...

But where will her abode of peace be?

I began to think and think by the pond that evening.

Suddenly I saw the fireflies coming with her new address.

I see my elder sister talking to the fireflies every evening.

~Partha Sarkar

School

I wish that it ended. She keeps talking and talking. I’m not listening, who is? Nobody

listening there, all sleeping. School is such a waste.

I wish that time stopped. I never thought it was fun. Schools should host more

parties. We stayed there until 9. It ended in a flash.

I wish that he didn’t. Throwing that beautiful ramen away. I’m inside the school

starving. While he wastes that ramen. My poor beautiful delicious ramen.

~Andrew Ban

birds blow by fast in July wind

followed by hats

then ghosts of seasons past

~Steve Van Allen

an old crate

once filled

with clementines

now holding

old computer wires

~Anthony Lusardi